I'm going to invite you, if you can, very briefly,
I'm going to read one verse of Scripture in the
book of Revelations, Revelation chapter 22 and
verse 20, all the way to the end of the Bible
today. Very last book, last chapter, and almost
the last verse. And it reads this way. He who
testifies to these things says, surely I am coming
quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Another
translation says, he who testifies to these things
says, surely I am coming soon. Amen. Come, Lord
Jesus. As we go now into our third installment
of our countdown to eternity, we're just going
to pray today and ask God to speak to us. My
message is very, very direct. Amen. Very direct.
Straightforward, but this is what God has placed
in my heart, and I'm going to preach today with
his help. Ready or not, he's coming. Ready or
not, he's coming. Father, let's pray. Father,
we come before you today. We thank you, Lord,
for... your visitation, and not only that, your
habitation, Lord, that you inhabit the praises
of your people today. We thank you, God, that
you gave us the strength, Lord, one more week,
one more day, to enter your gates with thanksgiving
and to your courts with praise, Lord. And now,
God, I pray that you would touch and anoint the
hearing, the ears, the hearts of every person
sitting in this place or watching online today,
God. Because this is an important moment for
somebody, God. This is a moment of eternity.
This is a moment of destiny, God. And I pray
that it not just be my words, but that it be
your word, God, that penetrates the hearts of
people and brings change, conviction, and encouragement.
We ask all of these things, God, in the name
of Jesus, we pray. Somebody say amen. Why don't
you give God one more hand praise? Amen. You
may be seated in God's presence. Our opening
verse today records the last prayer in the Bible.
It's the last prayer. It's not long. It's not
poetic. But it's powerful. And that last prayer
is even so come Lord Jesus. Come Lord Jesus.
Someone say come. Let's say that again. Come
Lord Jesus. Amen. I find it interesting that
the Bible does not end with a word or a prayer
for blessings. Doesn't come with a prayer for
gifts. Doesn't come with a prayer for more time.
These are all of the sorts of things that you
think that the Bible might offer at the very
end. Think about all of the promises. Think about
all of the words, the principles, the laws, the
instructions, the counsel, the full counsel of
God that is contained from... cover to cover
in this blessed book that we call the Bible,
the Holy Scriptures. Think about everything that
is written in here. Think about all the prayers
that have been prayed that were recorded in this
Bible, the great and marvelous things that God
has done and promised to do that are all contained
in the Word of God. Think about all of that.
That's a lot. Amen? There's many, many promises,
many, many prayers that are in this book. Amen.
Think about all those things and all the wonderful
things that man could ask for at the very end.
Think of the last prayer in the Bible as that
departing or closing word, the final chapter
as the Bible comes to an end. I mean, what would
be the one thing that we would pray, right? If
God said, hey, this is the last prayer I'm going
to record. for you think about what you might
ask for or man just if i could just squeeze this
last petition in if i can get one more prayer
in there this is what i would ask for And I think
that if we're honest today, especially if it's
in a moment of desperate need, we might pray
for that need that we have in our life or possibly
healing in our body or for God to do something
on our behalf. But I want you to, with me today,
consider the fact that at the very end of the
Bible, the last prayer that is prayed is a prayer
that says, Lord, come for us. The last prayer
in the Bible is Lord, come. Even so, come, Lord
Jesus. This prayer cannot be prayed unless the
one praying it has a clear revelation or understanding
about eternity and God's working in humanity,
understanding that it's all going to come to
a hedge at some point. And as I was reading this
last very short verse in the Bible, I began to
think about my own prayer life, began to think
about the kinds of things that I pray or that
I have heard people pray, and I wondered how
often Christians pray that prayer. Now, I don't
mean verbatim, but I just mean, you know, out
of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.
I wonder if our conversation, if the desires
of our heart, our prayers even, would... in some
way resembled this prayer that was prayed at
the end of the Bible. I wonder if that prayer,
even so come Lord Jesus, gets harder to pray
depending on where you're at in your life. I
wonder if that prayer gets harder to pray or
is a hard prayer to pray when you're still young,
still in the prime of your life. Maybe that prayer
is easier to pray after you've lived a good,
long, and full life. It's like, well, come, Lord
Jesus. I'm ready to go home. I've lived my life.
That's, I think, an easier prayer to pray when
you're at the end. But how about when you're
in the prime, when everything in your life or
around you suggests to you that there is more
life to be lived, more experiences to be had?
I wonder if that prayer gets harder to pray when
you still have things to do, places to go, things
to accomplish. You see, I think, and this is
just what I have been impressed upon in my spirit
today, that many in the church today are not
praying. This is not an indictment. This is just
simply an observation. Are not praying or not
saying, come, Jesus, come. But instead, they're
saying either with their lips or their lifestyle,
wait, Jesus, wait. Wait until I get myself together.
Wait until I make a little more money. Wait until
I get married. Whoa, some of you prayed that
prayer many years ago. Praise God. Not until
I get married. Okay, hallelujah. Wait, hallelujah,
until I have a family. Let me just experience
that for myself. Wait until I travel the world.
Wait until I can taste the finer things that
life has to offer. Or wait until I'm really ready.
Until I have got all of the living out of my
system. And I have experimented with the world
a little bit. Just wait, God. Not come, Jesus,
come. But wait, Jesus, wait. But let me tell
you today, church and friend, that Jesus didn't
say, I'm coming when you're done with your plans.
Somebody help me today. Somebody say amen. He
didn't say, I'm coming after you get your act
together. He didn't say, I'm coming when you're
ready. He said, I come quickly. Someone say,
ready or not. Ready or not, I'm coming. And if
Jesus said it, friend, then we must believe it.
I said, we must believe it. We must live, how?
As if, this is what it means to believe that
Jesus could come. It's to live as if he's coming
today. Hallelujah. To live as if he's coming
now. We must live as if though this can happen
today and this starts, this really begins by
understanding what his coming really means. And
so when we talk about the coming of the Lord
or the rapture of the church, which is what we're
going to focus on today, the return of Christ
to catch away the saints and the church of the
Lord. When we talk about these things, there
can be a lot of misconceptions, ideas that have
been placed upon us, things that we have picked
up, whether in church or even outside of the
church. even through literature, through Hollywood
and different things that can inform. But we
need to get back to the Bible and look at what
God says about his coming. And so today I want
us just for a few moments to look at three aspects
of Christ's return. Three aspects of his return.
If God allows me, another week or so in this
series, we'll look a little more about eschatological
things or future things that are to come, but
we need to look at his return, and we need to
start with the timing of his coming. Someone
say the timing. The timing of his coming. This
is the first aspect of his return that we need
to look at. Back in the 90s, or excuse me, the
80s, a popular book came out called, it was entitled,
88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988. This
is a book that actually came out. And I want
you to know that over 3 million copies were printed
and sold and distributed across America. It was
a popular book. You know what people did upon
reading this book? They sold their homes. Sold
their home. Quit their jobs. Many people maxed
out their credit cards thinking that they were
going to be here next month. And then you know
what happened? September came. And it went. And
the author, he was actually a NASA engineer turned
prophecy teacher, I guess. He ended up revising
it. He produced another book and said, wait,
wait, not September, October. He's coming. Well,
here we are 36 years later. We're still here.
We're still here. I think the author, whatever
his intentions were, maybe it was just to sell
books. He must have forgot to read the words
of Christ himself. Because Jesus said, but of
that day and hour, no one knows. Not even the
angels in heaven, but my Father only. Nobody
knows the exact time that Jesus is coming back.
And if they tell you that they do, They're not
being truthful. Not even the angels in heaven
know the exact day. And so every once in a while,
you'll see a billboard on the side of the road,
Judgment Day. It's going to happen on this day,
or somebody will make headlines, right, in the
news, because they have predicted a day. Let
me tell you, that's a dangerous thing to do,
and we should not be, as the people of God, in
the business of trying to predict when exactly
Jesus is going to come. It's clearly dangerous
to predict when he's coming. But let me tell
you today, church, it is equally dangerous to
go to the other extreme and assume, well, pastor,
since we don't know when he's going to come,
then we can just ignore the signs of the times.
Let me tell you that is equally dangerous. Equally
dangerous. As dangerous as it is to predict when
he's coming, it is to live. with our blinders
on, ignoring and not paying attention to what
is happening around us in our world as prophecy
is being unfolded each and every day. We may
not know the exact day or time, which we don't,
but Jesus warned about the season of his coming.
And Jesus said this in Matthew 24. And if this
topic interests you, you ought to devote much
time in reading and studying the book of Matthew
chapter 24 and 25. But he writes, or he says
this in verse 32. Now learn this parable from
the fig tree. When its branch has already become
tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer
is near. So you also, when you see all these
things, someone say all these things, know that
it is near at the door. So here in this chapter,
Jesus is predicting what is going to come during
the end times. And he talks, and I'm going to
share a little bit about what those things are.
But he says, when you begin to see these things,
you may not know the exact day or time, but you're
going to know that the hour is near. You're going
to know that my coming is near. When you see
these things, when you see like a branch, a fig
tree producing its leaves, you know that summer
is near and that the end is at the door. So how
do we know that branch is tender? What are the
signs of the time? I wish I had time to investigate,
break down what each of these signs are. But
just for review. These are some of the signs
which Jesus... refers or hints to at the end
of the end of the last days. Talks about wars
and rumors of wars. You can't go a day or two
without hearing of another war or another rumor
of war or another nation that is arming up its
nuclear warheads, investing in more capabilities
to attack and to create war. Now, through centuries,
there have been wars and rumors of wars all the
way from... you know, from the time of Christ
to this point, especially in the last century
or two with World War I and World War II and
all types of wars that have sprung out all over
the earth. But we need to understand that these
are signs. And even today, there are signs of
wars, the rumors of war. Nation rising against
nation. This is not just referring to one country
fighting with another country. This nation is
actually speaking of nationality or ethnicities.
Ethnic group rising against ethnic group and
fighting or hating each other. Famine and pestilence,
which we have seen through different pandemics
and epidemics that have affected us even not
too many years ago with the coronavirus. And
just because it's not happening on a global scale
doesn't mean that there's not pestilence and
doesn't mean that people and entire villages
and people are not dying because of famine even,
the lack of food. Earthquakes in various places.
The Richter scales are breaking records for earthquakes
that are taking place in diverse places that
are not known to typically be earthquake zone.
You know, here in the Bay Area, whenever there's
a little rattling, I mean, we hardly even, it
hardly makes this. news you know what i'm saying
it's like a little rattle it's like it hardly
makes the news why because we we are in a earthquake
zone right there's always going to be earthquakes
now some are bigger than others but in other
places where there isn't a big fault line they're
not used to having East earthquakes are springing
up in these places. Lawlessness is increasing.
Obviously, we're seeing a rejection of laws that
rule and govern, and the love of many is growing
cold, and all of these things are happening.
False prophets, oh my goodness, and apostasy
has run amok, especially now with the proliferation
of ideas through social media, the internet,
Google, I mean, you name it, YouTube. I mean,
anybody can start a church. on YouTube now and
gain followers and just spew whatever it is that
they want to say, whatever doctrine they have
come up with. And so apostasy, which is false
doctrine and false teaching, is running rampant
in the world today. And I thank God, hallelujah,
that we've got good doctrine, solid doctrine.
Amen. Hallelujah. a sign of the time is these
things are going to happen and there's also signs
in in the terrestrial realm and in the moon the
stars and on the earth and we see that men's
hearts jesus said in the in luke that men's hearts
would begin to fail them because of fear and
because of fear they're going to lose heart and
lose hope and become depressed and suicide and
so all of these things are happening around us
and and just because You're not tuned in to that
news channel. But I can assure you they are happening
on record levels. But also in a company with
that, not only are these bad things happening,
but also the gospel is being preached all around
the world. And that is another sign of his coming.
When you start seeing the gospel, when you start
seeing revival, when you start seeing the message
of Jesus Christ being preached in diverse places
and communities and different dialects and different
people and different creeds. to remote areas
that you never thought the gospel would ever
go, that is also a sign, and that's a good sign,
hallelujah, that Jesus is getting ready to take
his church out of here. Somebody clap your hands
and let's give God some praise today. Hallelujah.
Now, Jesus said, back to the next slide, please.
Jesus said, now, when these things begin to happen,
look up. He said, look up and lift up your head.
Why? Because your redemption draws near. We as
a people of God will see these things unfolding
in our world today, whether on the 24 -hour news
cycle or through the rumor of a friend or it
might even hit or touch our own family members
or households. But we as a people of God ought
not to become depressed or discouraged or lose
our faith or lose out with God. We ought to be
encouraged. We ought to comfort one another with
these words and say, hey. Everything is going
to be all right because Jesus is coming back
for his church. We don't say these things to
depress you and to, man, man, man, this world
is really in a bad. It is to encourage one another.
Say, hey, get your eyes off of this world. Get
your eyes off of everything. Don't get caught
up, you know, start walking around with tinfoil
on your head and say, oh, there's conspiracies.
Yeah, there might be those things out there,
but fix your eyes on. Jesus and say, hey, this
world is not my home. I'm a pilgrim passing through.
I'm going to lift up your head, lift up your
eyes, and look to the hills. Your redemption
draws nigh. This ought to be the disposition
of the church. We don't have a message of doom
and gloom. We got a message of hope that Jesus
is coming back for his church. We're living in
the last days, church. And just because he hasn't
come yet, let me tell you what my other title
was going to be. How many of you want to know
what the runner -up title was going to be? My
other title was going to be, and if you like
it, you can have it. Amen? Jesus is still coming
soon. Focus on the word still. Because you hear
people say, well, he hasn't come. I've been hearing
Jesus is coming. He's still coming soon. And
I tell you, when he gets there, he's going to
be right on time. It's been the last day since
I was a child. And it's still the last days.
And the fact that he hasn't come yet doesn't
mean he's not coming. Come on. Someone say hallelujah.
Then we have another aspect that we need to understand,
which is not only the timing, but the test. Someone
say the test. You got to understand something
about the catching away of the church or this
coming of the Lord. It's going to be a spiritual
test. Jesus said in Luke 18, 8, when the Son
of Man comes, speaking of his coming, his second
return, he will, or will he really find faith
on the earth? He asked this question, when I
come back, what am I going to find? Oh, man.
How many of you remember when your parents would
go away for a little bit? And maybe some of you
were left in charge. Of the house? I feel conviction
coming in right now. You're like, Pastor, you're
not going to tell them what we did, do we? No.
Your secret is safe. Huh? The party you threw?
No, I'm just kidding. Hallelujah. Whatever it
was you did, amen. And your parents said, I'm
coming back. I'm coming home. Right? Maybe they
got delayed or whatever. And it might have been
that what if they come home a little sooner than
what you thought? It's either car coming down
the street, uh -oh, get out of the house, or
clean. We said we were going to do the dishes
and we didn't do them. Mom said when we came
back, this house better be clean. And it's a
mess, throwing things under the couches. We got
to make it look clean. But if they come unannounced
and they just show up, guess what? You don't
have time to make it look clean. It's a test
to see if what, and Jesus ain't, I'm coming back.
And I left you there like in charge of the house
while I'm gone. And when I come back, what am
I going to find? How have you been living? What
has your life been like? What's been your testimony?
How's been your attitude? How's been your prayer
life? How's been your obedience to me? What am
I going to find? And there are many examples
which I don't have time to get through, but there
is one very powerful, very poignant parable that
Jesus talks about in Matthew 25 with the parable
of the 10 virgins who were all waiting for the
bridegroom to come. They all had lamps. They
were all waiting equally. Every one of them were
waiting. All these 10 virgins were waiting. They
had these lamps. As many of you may be familiar
with that story, but only five were ready when
he came. Half. And the other half were not ready.
And so at the very last minute, They went and
they tried to get their oil that they did not
have, that they were supposed to have ready in
their lamps. They went to try to go to the store,
to the neighborhood Walmart, whatever it was,
to try to buy and sell so they can get some oil.
It was too late by then. And there's a lot of
people that they're always getting ready to get
ready. But the question is, are you ready? Someone
say, are you ready? Because when he comes, there's
not going to be no time to get ready, my friend.
There's not going to be no time to say, oh, if
I could just get to an altar now. If I could
just repent now. If I could just listen and be
obedient now. If I could just get my heart right
now. Because when he comes, it's going to happen
in a snap of a finger, even faster than that.
And there won't be any time to do any of those
things. And the master's going to want to know,
is there any oil in your lamp? Have you been
praying? Have you been living right? Come on
now. Is there oil there? And God forbid, there's
no oil. And there's another example. The same
chapter, Jesus tells of a master who entrusted
his servants with talents. And when he returned,
he began to inspect their works. Okay, what did
you do with the talents I gave you? Okay, just
paraphrasing this very quickly. What did you
do with the talents I gave you? Two of them were
faithful, and they were fruitful with the talents
that God gave them. One of them decided, you
know, I'm going to take this one talent and bury
it. You know, because he was so fearful of it.
He was living from a place of fear, so he went
and he buried it. And what was the punishment
for him? Well, Jesus said that he was cast into
darkness. When the master came back, he looked
around and he said, what did you do with what
I gave you? What did you do with what I gave
you? What did you do with the gift I gave you?
What did you do with the blessing I gave you?
What did you do with the talent I gave you? You
see, here's something, before I move on to the
next point, which I'll get to in a moment, this
is something we need to understand, and I pray,
I really do, that it puts the fear of God in
the church. We tend to think that only backsliders
and sinners are going to miss the rapture. And
I'm here to tell you there's going to be churchgoers
that miss his coming. Not just the lost, but
those who, you know, take heed, the Bible says,
to those who think they stand lest they fall.
Those who think, ah, I've got it all covered.
I'm good. I don't need to grow anymore. I don't
need to repent anymore. I don't need to improve
anymore. I'm good just as I am, and I'm just
going to sit here and wait for him to come. That's
not how it works. We've got to occupy. We've
got to be about his business. We can't just be
in cruise control. You know what I'm saying?
There are more accidents that happen out there
in the driving world because people are on cruise
control. They're not paying attention to the
signs. They're not on guard. They're not sober.
and they're not vigilant and sober -minded. They're
not looking up and lifting their eyes to the
hills for his return, and they're just saying,
oh, he's going to, I don't know when he's going
to come, but he hasn't come yet. No, Jesus wants
to know, how will I find you when I come? Because
after that, there are no more make -up tests.
Somebody say amen today. Jesus will ask, what
did you do while I was gone? Were you murmuring
and backbiting the whole time? Playing games,
acting childish, holding grudges, being proud,
petty? Were you loving? Were you kind? Were you
generous? Were you winning souls? Were you forgiving?
Were you submissive? You know, what is he, what
kind of faith is he going to find? And this,
I have to put the fear of God in each and every
one of us because all of us here today, listen,
if you feel a little pinch today in the Holy
Ghost, that's all right. That's the love of God.
That's the love of God. You feel a pinch. I feel
for those who don't feel that pinch anymore.
I'm more concerned when you don't feel the pinch.
But when you start to feel the pinch, ooh, that's
the Holy Ghost right there. Oh, God, let us not
be like that one servant that Jesus talked about
in Matthew 24 who just kind of did whatever he
wanted because the master was away, but he did
what he wanted. And his rationale, the way this
one servant kind of talked his way out of it
is he said, well, my master is delaying in his
coming. And so because the master hadn't come
yet, he was just, you know, he felt like he could
just mess around and just act up and live any
kind of way. But then the master came and he
was found unready because the master came at
a time that he was not expecting. He came at
an hour he was not looking for. And so this is
the warning to the church today. Hear me today,
church, brother and sister in the Lord. This
is the word of God to you. Jesus is going to
come when you're not. expecting him to come.
Oh, wouldn't it be nice if he all came when we
were in church, you know, hands lifted, crying,
speaking in tongues. Oh, it would be great. But
I've got a feeling like he's going to come on
a Monday morning when your co -worker cussed
you out or somebody got on you. I've got a feeling
he's going to come when you're driving somewhere.
You least expect him. And you say, oh, surely
God's not going to come right now. This is why
we've got to get up every day and say this is
the day that the Lord has to come. And I will
rejoice and be glad in it. I'm not going to let
the devil rob me of my eternal home. It's a pop
quiz. Someone say, it's a pop quiz. The master
showed up to that one servant in Matthew 24,
and he wasn't looking for him. And he just, remember
those pop quizzes you got in high school when
the teacher was, we have a pop quiz today, right?
Everyone starts looking around like, oh, man.
And then you find out who's been studying. And
you find out who's been prepared. And can I tell
you something? And with all due respect, like
anybody could, anybody could ace or do well on
a test if you know when the test is going to
happen and you have ample time to prepare. Right?
And you get reminder after reminder after reminder.
It's coming tomorrow. Remember tomorrow, 5 o
'clock, it's coming. You know what most people
do? We would cram that 455. Hallelujah. Brother,
come on up here in a minute. But Jesus is not
coming like that. He's not coming. The rapture
will be a pop quiz. And you're either ready,
someone say you're ready or not. Come on, say
it louder. Say ready or not. Ready or not. He's
coming. And this is the kind of fear when I talk
about fear. Hear me today. I'm not talking about
this. Fear of the boogeyman, I'm not talking
about a fear of of, you know, you're just like,
oh, I'm afraid of things. I'm talking about irreverence,
a godly fear that we ought to live with. The
Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. The fear of the Lord. The fear of
the Lord. And this needs to be restored in the
church today because there are many that have
become lackadaisical, lukewarm in their faith
because Christ hasn't come yet. So, you know,
I've got time to mess around. I've got time.
I'll repent next Sunday. I've got time. I'll
do things how I want. But I'm here to tell you
that if Jesus came today, are you ready? If he
came today, would you be ready? You know, there
was a time, I remember this growing up. There's
a time that, man, growing up in a Christian household,
some of you, this may not sound familiar to you
because maybe you didn't grow up in a Christian
home where this was taught. But there was a time
then where I grew up, I'd come home. This was
before the invention of, you know, cell phones.
And I think they may have had pagers, but, you
know, people took like three hours to respond
to those things, you know. And you'd come home
and nobody would be there. And then you'd call.
Mom, did you call Grandpa? Grandpa didn't answer.
Did you call everybody? Did you call the pastor?
Nobody asked. I'm telling you, it's like you
would think, did Jesus come? For a split second,
it hits your mind. Like, wait a minute. Did it
happen and I'm still here? That's the kind of
fear that we lived with. It could happen at any
moment. You've got to be ready. Somebody say,
you've got to be ready. Oh, but let me tell you
about when he comes. Let me tell you about when
he comes. The Bible says this in Thessalonians.
In chapter 4, Paul writes these words to encourage
the Thessalonians so that they might comfort
one another through their trials and tribulations.
He said, for the Lord. himself will descend from
heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel
and with the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ
will rise first hallelujah would you stand with
me this afternoon oh hallelujah then we who are
alive and remain shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds to meet the Lord We shall
always be with the Lord. Come on. Why don't we
give God about 30 seconds of praise right there?
Come on. Thank you, Jesus. He's coming. He's
coming. The dead in Christ are going to rise
first. Those who are dead in the Lord are going
to rise first. Hallelujah. And there have been
some that have already gone on to be with Jesus.
And I feel like we've been in a season where
there's been quite a few. Sometimes I feel like
heaven's bus just comes by, you know, and picks
up a number of people. Okay, it's time to go
home. And some of we have said goodbye to some
people recently that have died in the Lord. Well,
guess what? They're ahead of the pack. Hallelujah.
When Jesus comes, they're going to be in front
of us. They got their first in line. Hallelujah.
Praise God. But those of us, hallelujah, that
are alive and remain, we're going to meet them
in the air. And when Jesus comes, he's not sending
an angel. Next slide. Hallelujah. He's coming
himself. Oh, my Lord. Jesus himself is going
to descend in the clouds. Woo! My Lord. He's
coming back for us. Oh, and when he comes, he's
not just going to descend in a very soft cloud,
you know, with singing angels and violins and
harps and that sort of thing. When he comes,
there's going to be a shout. There's going to
be a voice. And there's going to be a trumpet.
Hallelujah. Oh. what the shout of God is going
to sound like on that day. Oh, my God. The shout
is the shout of Jesus. How many of you can you,
my brother, can you imagine what the shout of
the Lord Jesus Christ will sound like? It's going
to sound like the lion from the tribe of Judah.
It's going to be. It's going to break the cedars
of Lebanon. It's going to... Oh, my God. What
a shout. There's going to be a voice. The archangel,
most likely Michael, is going to shout with a
loud voice announcing the coming of the king.
Here comes the herald, the king of... Let the
praise team, if they could come and prepare themselves.
There's going to be a trumpet that's going to
sound. I feel the Holy Ghost in this place. The
trumpet is a powerful symbol of what God is doing
when he comes back. Trumpets in the Bible, church,
they represent, they represent. They represent
praise. And they were used in battle. But trumpets
were also used to gather the people of God. When
they blew the trumpet in the book of Isaiah.
All the people of God gathered together in one
place. And when Jesus comes back for his church.
There's going to be a trumpet. The Bible says
the last trumpet is going to sound. And when
that trumpet sounds. We shall be changed in a
moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last
trumpet. And we're going to meet the Lord in
the end. my question today. I feel the Holy Ghost
right now. Some of you want to begin to worship,
go ahead. Don't stop. If you want to, God is
working in this place. The praise team is going
to sing in just a moment. There's a song, hallelujah,
that God has put in this moment for us. But I
want you to understand that I preach this today
not simply to warn you. I preach it to comfort
you. I preach to tell you that life is hard.
Life is difficult. There is pain. There are problems.
There's disease and famine and violence and war.
There's all kinds of things that can affect us
in this world. And so I come today with a word
of encouragement. If you're not living right,
get right with God today. Oh, make sure your
heart is rapture ready. And if you need comfort,
I've come to comfort you today and tell you this.
to pray like the prayer prayed in revelation
and say come